The earthquake started on the morning of December 26, 2004 off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, with a power of more than 9 on the Richter scale. A wave of about 50 cm then forms in the middle of the ocean and travels at a speed of 800 km / h towards the coast. As it gets closer, its height increases to reach 35 m.
“We are a doll, we suffer, we fall on furniture, cars, we bump”
Indonesia will be the first hit in particular Band Aceh. She suffers the heaviest losses with at least 170,000 deaths and probably many more - many bodies have never been found or identified. Thailand, India, Bangla Desh, Singapore and Sri Lanka will then follow.
Tsunami archive footage
Catherine Vandeloise is one of the survivors, she was in Sri Lanka when the wave swept. "There are liters and liters of water that arrived on us. We were really expelled with unimaginable force. The wall of the cabin collapsed and we left with the wave. We are a doll, we suffer, we fall on furniture, cars, we bump. We cross houses, I was cut by barbed wire. I said to myself: "No, you have to hang on and fight until bout ". I think everyone is fighting to stay alive," she says.
The earthquake was detected, but unlike the Pacific, the Indian Ocean does not have a tsunami warning system, which explains this final assessment. Thousands of tourists have also lost their lives there: 500 people came from Sweden and Germany, 11 from Belgium. It is one of the worst natural disasters in history.
When the wave receded, it left devastated landscapes behind. The images had also brought about an unprecedented surge of global solidarity.
Tribute and meditation
Thousands of residents converged on cemeteries in the Indonesian province of Aceh to commemorate this 15th anniversary. In a meadow in the district of Aceh Besar where at least 47,000 victims were buried, the relatives of the disappeared prayed, spread flower petals on the graves and comforted each other.
Nurhayati, who lost her youngest daughter in the disaster, came to the meeting. " I come here every year because I miss her so much. She was just 17 years old and she was starting university, " said the 65-year-old woman, sobbing.
" It's been 15 years but until today, every time I see the ocean, even on television, I tremble and I have the impression that a big wave is going to happen ", she notes.
Surfing to "reconnect with life"
In Lampuuk, out of 7,000 inhabitants only 300 survived. This is the case of Dery Setyawan, who lost her mother, two grandmothers, her young brother and many of his friends in the tsunami.
The young man remembers the moment when water rushed into his house, dragging him 200 meters further, until he clings to debris to survive.
“The waves of the beach are our friends, those who killed during the tsunami came from the bottom of the ocean”
In the years that followed, the traumatized residents were afraid of the water. " We were watching the waves but just to check that the water level was not dropping ", a harbinger of a tsunami.
However, barely a year later, Dery Setyawan wanted to face his fear. " The waves on the beach are our friends, the ones who killed during the tsunami came from the bottom of the ocean: that's how I was able to convince myself to go back into the water the first time, " he says.
For him as for other inhabitants, surfing has become a way to reconnect with life. " The coast is part of our existence here. This is where we live, where we spend family time, where we make our living ."
Become a professional surfer, he participates today in international and local competitions and organized last month the Aceh Surf Championship.
With his surfboard under his arm, Dery Setyawan runs towards the waves. It is a sporting event but also an emotional one for the man who lost many loved ones when a giant tsunami hit this Indonesian coast fifteen years ago.
" Surfing was the best remedy for the trauma suffered ". " When I'm on the waves, all my fears are gone, I can confront the past and find peace, " he told AFP.
